Gusswerk Meinklang Ancient Grains

Made with einkorn wheat, one of the world’s first domesticated crops, this exotic beer hails from what the label calls “the bio-dynamic Meinklang farm in the Pannonian area of Burgenland in the east of Austria.” The grains aren’t the only ancient thing about it, either: This bottle, and several others stuck in make-your-own-six-pack purgatory at the Glover Park Whole Foods, expired in December. Still, I couldn’t escape the bargain-basement sale price, the pull of Pannonian Burgenland, or maybe just the farm’s New Age biodynamic growing methods. (From the Meinklang website: ) It might not measure up to Mozart, but on the spectrum of old Austrian exports, Meinklang’s not so bad.